Despite the best push yet to finally force TikTok to divest from the Chinese Communist Party or face a ban, several senators are looking to protect the CCP spyware for a variety of selfish and ill-thought-out reasons.
On Wednesday, the House of Representatives voted 352-65 to pass the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, which would force TikTok to divest from the CCP-aligned company ByteDance in order to continue operating in the United States. Apps controlled by other foreign adversaries — Iran, North Korea, and Russia — also could be forced to be sold off or cease operating in the U.S.
This entire situation is straightforward, and the bill is targeted, having been introduced by Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-WI), one of the most serious and responsible legislators in Congress. Naturally, that means that several personal brand-obsessed senators want to tank the bill and continue helping the CCP use TikTok as a spyware app and disinformation tool targeting millions of young Americans.
Among that list is Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), who is apparently arguing that the First Amendment gives China the right to spy on millions of Americans and who also counts ByteDance investor Jeff Yass among his most prominent donors. Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), who wants to be the GOP Senate leader, and Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) are both lukewarm on the matter at best. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), one of the Senate’s foremost authoritarians, wants to impose vast restrictions on all social media sites. For her, the bill doesn’t go far enough.
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The problems with TikTok are well-documented. It collects more data than other social media apps, violating app store protections to do so, and sends that data straight to China because the CCP, by law, must have access to it. It is both a national security threat and a threat to civic and mental health, as China controls the algorithm that dictates what users see. China can peddle disinformation or dangerous “challenges” to children and young, impressionable adults, all while leeching as much data as possible from their phones. This should be an easy decision.
If the Senate blows it and kills this bill, it will be one of the most irresponsible acts of Congress in recent history. TikTok must be separated from CCP control or it must be banned. Anything less is a failure of Congress to protect Americans from the threats of the Chinese Communist Party.